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Register a new userDielectric anomalies and interactions in the 3D quadratic band touching Luttinger semimetal Pr$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$
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Dirac and Weyl semimetals with linearly crossing bands are the focus of much recent interest in condensed matter physics. Although they host fascinating phenomena, their physics can be understood in terms of weakly interacting electrons. In contrast, more than 40 years ago, Abrikosov pointed out that quadratic band touchings are generically strongly interacting. We have performed terahertz spectroscopy on films of the conducting pyrochlore Pr$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$, which has been shown to host a quadratic band touching. A dielectric constant as large as $tilde{varepsilon }/epsilon_0 sim 180 $ is observed at low temperatures. In such systems the dielectric constant is a measure of the relative scale of interactions, which are therefore in our material almost two orders of magnitude larger than the kinetic energy. Despite this, the scattering rate exhibits a $T^2$ dependence, which shows that for finite doping a Fermi liquid state survives, however with a scattering rate close to the maximal value allowed.
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Magnetic materials with pyrochlore crystal structure form exotic magnetic states due to the high lattice frustration. In this work we follow the effects of coupling of the lattice and electronic and magnetic degrees of freedom in two Praseodymium-based pyrochlores Pr$_2$Zr$_2$O$_7$ and Pr$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$. In both materials the presence of magnetic interactions does not lead to magnetically ordered low temperature states, however their electronic properties are different. A comparison of Raman phonon spectra of Pr$_2$Zr$_2$O$_7$ and Pr$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$ allows us to identify magneto-elastic coupling in Pr$_2$Zr$_2$O$_7$ that elucidates its magnetic properties at intermediate temperatures, and allows us to characterize phonon-electron coupling in the semimetallic Pr$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$. We also show that the effects of random disorder on the Raman phonon spectra is small.
Neutron scattering, specific heat and magnetisation measurements on both powders and single crystals reveal that Dy$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$ realizes the fragmented monopole crystal state in which antiferromagnetic order and a Coulomb phase spin liquid co-inhabit. The measured residual entropy is that of a hard core dimer liquid, as predicted. Inclusion of Coulomb interactions allows for a quantitative description of both the thermodynamic data and the magnetisation dynamics, with the energy scale given by deconfined defects in the emergent ionic crystal. Our data reveal low energy excitations, as well as a large distribution of energy barriers down to low temperatures, while the magnetic response to an applied field suggests that domain wall pinning is important; results that call for further theoretical modelling.
In a quantum spin liquid, the magnetic moments of the constituent electron spins evade classical long-range order to form an exotic state that is quantum entangled and coherent over macroscopic length scales [1-2]. Such phases offer promising perspectives for device applications in quantum information technologies, and their study can reveal fundamentally novel physics in quantum matter. Quantum spin ice is an appealing proposal of one such state, in which the fundamental ground state properties and excitations are described by an emergent U(1) lattice gauge theory [3-7]. This quantum-coherent regime has quasiparticles that are predicted to behave like magnetic and electric monopoles, along with a gauge boson playing the role of an artificial photon. However, this emergent lattice quantum electrodynamics has proved elusive in experiments. Here we report neutron scattering measurements of the rare-earth pyrochlore magnet Pr$_2$Hf$_2$O$_7$ that provide evidence for a quantum spin ice ground state. We find a quasi-elastic structure factor with pinch points - a signature of a classical spin ice - that are partially suppressed, as expected in the quantum-coherent regime of the lattice field theory at finite temperature. Our result allows an estimate for the speed of light associated with magnetic photon excitations. We also reveal a continuum of inelastic spin excitations, which resemble predictions for the fractionalized, topological excitations of a quantum spin ice. Taken together, these two signatures suggest that the low-energy physics of Pr$_2$Hf$_2$O$_7$ can be described by emergent quantum electrodynamics. If confirmed, the observation of a quantum spin ice ground state would constitute a concrete example of a three-dimensional quantum spin liquid - a topical state of matter which has so far mostly been explored in lower dimensionalities.
We have studied the effect of pressure on the pyrochlore iridate Eu$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$, which at ambient pressure has a thermally driven insulator to metal transition at $T_{MI}sim120$,K. As a function of pressure the insulating gap closes, apparently continuously, near $P sim 6$,GPa. However, rather than $T_{MI}$ going to zero as expected, the insulating ground state crosses over to a metallic state with a negative temperature coefficient of resistivity, calling into question the true nature of both ground states. The high temperature state also crosses over near 6 GPa, from an incoherent to a conventional metal, suggesting a connection between the high and the low temperature states.
We uncover a strong anisotropy in both the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) and the magnetoresistance of the chiral spin states of Pr$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$. The AHE appearing below 1.5 K at zero magnetic field shows hysteresis which is most pronounced for fields cycled along the [111] direction. This hysteresis is compatible with the field-induced growth of domains composed by the 3-in 1-out spin states which remain coexisting with the 2-in 2-out spin ice manifold once the field is removed. Only for fields applied along the [111] direction, we observe a large positive magnetoresistance and Shubnikov de Haas oscillations above a metamagnetic critical field. These observations suggest the reconstruction of the electronic structure of the conduction electrons by the field-induced spin-texture.
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